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HB2795 - 572R - H Ver
House Engrossed
small modular
reactors; zoning; approval
State of Arizona
House of Representatives
Fifty-seventh Legislature
Second Regular Session
2026
HOUSE BILL 2795
AN
ACT
amending section 11-812, arizona revised
statutes; relating to county zoning.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it
enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 11-812, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE
11-812.
Restriction on regulation; exceptions; aggregate mining
regulation; definitions
A.
Nothing contained in
Any
ordinance authorized by this chapter
shall
may
not
:
1. Affect existing uses of property or the right to
its continued use or the reasonable repair or alteration of the property for
the purpose for which used at the time the ordinance affecting the property
takes effect.
2. Prevent, restrict or otherwise regulate the use
or occupation of land or improvements for railroad, mining, metallurgical,
grazing or general agricultural purposes, if the tract concerned is five or
more contiguous commercial acres.� For the purposes of this paragraph:
(a) "General agricultural purposes"
includes agritourism as defined in section 3-111, but does not include
any of the following:
(i) Food establishments
that are
under
the authority of the department of health services pursuant to section 36-136,
subsection I
and
that are associated with an agritourism
business.
(ii) Rodeo events that are open to the general
public and that sell tickets for admission.� For the purposes of this item,
rodeo events do not include generally accepted agricultural practices
associated with livestock and equine operations.
(iii) The cultivation of cannabis as defined in
section 13-3401 or marijuana as defined in section 13-3401 or 36-2801.
(b) "Mining" has the same meaning
prescribed in section 27-301.
3. Prevent, restrict or otherwise regulate the use
or occupation of land or improvements for agricultural composting, if the tract
is five or more contiguous commercial acres.� An agricultural composting
operation shall notify in writing the board of supervisors and the nearest fire
department of the location of the composting operation.� If the nearest fire
department is located in a city, town or fire district where the agricultural
composting is not located, the agricultural composting operation shall also
notify in writing the fire district in which the operation is
located. Agricultural composting is subject to sections 3-112
and 49-141. For the purposes of this paragraph,
"agricultural composting" has the same meaning prescribed in section
9-462.01, subsection G.
4. Prevent, restrict or otherwise regulate the
otherwise lawful discharge of a firearm or air gun or use of archery equipment
on a private lot or parcel of land that is not open to the public on a
commercial or membership basis.
5. Prevent,
restrict or otherwise regulate the use or occupation of land or improvements
for the construction and operation of a small modular reactor if PRIOR to the
construction of the small modular reactor all of the following have been met:
(
a
) The owner
or operator of the small modular reactor has voluntarily applied for and
received an early site permit for the small modular reactor site from a federal
agency or commission that regulates public health and safety relating to the operation
of nuclear reactors, and The owner or operator of the small modular reactor has
conducted the relevant public notice and comment process that is required
pursuant to 10 code of federal regulations part 52 before obtaining a voluntary
early site permit.
(
b
) The small
modular reactor has received a design certification pursuant to 10 Code of
Federal Regulations part 52 from a federal agency or commission that regulates
public health and safety relating to the operation of nuclear reactors.
(
c
) The owner or
operator of the small modular reactor has submitted to the board of supervisors
of the county in which the proposed small modular reactor is located evidence
of all of the following:
(
i
) The
completion of the public notice and comment period required pursuant to
subdivision (
a
) of this paragraph.
(
ii
) The early
site permit issued by a federal agency or commission that regulates public
health and safety relating to the operation of nuclear reactors.
(
iii
) The
design certification for the small modular reactor.
B. A nonconforming business use within a district
may expand if the expansion does not exceed one hundred
per cent
percent
of the area of the original business.
C. For the purposes of subsection A, paragraph 2 of
this section, mining does not include aggregate mining operations in an
aggregate mining operations zoning district established pursuant to this
section. The board of supervisors of any county with a population of
more than two million persons shall designate and establish the boundaries of
an aggregate mining operations zoning district on the petition of at least one
hundred persons who reside within one-half mile of an existing aggregate
mining operation.� In addition, the board of supervisors of any county may
establish, in its discretion and on the board's initiative, one or more
aggregate mining operations zoning districts. Aggregate mining
operations zoning districts may only be located in areas that are inventoried
and mapped as areas of known reserves or in areas with existing aggregate
mining operations.� Subject to subsections E and F of this section, a county
and the state mine inspector may jointly adopt, as internal administrative
regulations, reasonable aggregate mining operations zoning district standards
limited to permitted uses, procedures for approval of property development
plans and site development standards for dust control, height regulations,
setbacks, days and hours of operation, off-street parking, screening, noise,
vibration and air pollution control, signs, roadway access lanes, arterial
highway protection and property reclamation for which aggregate mining
operations are not otherwise subject to federal, state or local regulation or a
governmental contractual obligation. Regulations
that
are
jointly adopted pursuant to this subsection by the county and the
state mine inspector shall not prohibit the activities included in the
definition of mine pursuant to section 27-301, paragraph 8 or duplicate,
conflict with or be more stringent than applicable federal, state or local
laws.
D. The board of supervisors of any county that
establishes an aggregate mining operations zoning district shall appoint an
aggregate mining operations recommendation committee for the
district. The committee consists of not more than seven operators,
or representatives of operators, of active aggregate mining operations in any
district within the county and an equal number of private citizens, who are not
operators, who are not employed by operators and who do not represent operators,
residing within three miles of the boundaries of aggregate mining operations or
a proposed aggregate mining operation in the district for which the committee
is established.� The initial members appointed to the committee shall be deemed
the primary members, and the board of supervisors shall appoint not more than
five alternate members who represent operators and shall appoint not more than
five alternate members who are private citizens.� Alternate members may serve
at meetings of the committee when a primary member is unable to
attend. An aggregate mining operator may serve on more than one
committee in the same county.� The board of supervisors shall determine the
length of terms of members of the committee and shall stagger the initial
appointments so that not all members' terms expire at the same time.� Members
of the committee who no longer qualify for membership as provided by this
subsection are subject to removal and replacement by the board of supervisors.�
The committee shall elect a member who is an aggregate mining operator to serve
as chairperson for the first year in which the committee is
created. For each year thereafter, the chairperson shall be elected
by the members of the committee with a member who is a private citizen and a
member who is an aggregate mining operator serving as chairperson in alternate
years.� The committee is subject to the open meeting requirements of title 38,
chapter 3, article 3.1.
E. Within ninety days after an aggregate mining
operations recommendation committee is established, the committee shall notify
all existing aggregate mining operators in the district of the application of
this section and title 27, chapter 3, article 6 to the aggregate mining
operation.� In addition, the committee shall:
1. By a majority vote
of all members make recommendations to the board of supervisors for aggregate
mining zoning districts and administrative regulations as provided in this
section. The board of supervisors may adopt or reject the
recommendations but may not make any modifications to the recommendations
unless the modification is approved by a majority of the members of the
recommendation committee.
2. Serve as a forum for mediation of disputes
between members of the public and aggregate mining owners or operators.� If the
committee is unable to resolve a dispute, the committee shall transmit the
matter to the state mine inspector, with written findings and recommendations,
for further action.
3. Hear written complaints filed with the state mine
inspector regarding alleged material deviations from approved community notices
for aggregate mining operations and make written recommendations to the state
mine inspector pursuant to section 27-446.
F. Any administrative regulations adopted by a board
of supervisors pursuant to this section are not effective until the regulations
are approved by the state mine inspector.� The
state mine
inspector
may disapprove the administrative regulations adopted by the board of
supervisors only if they duplicate, conflict with or are more stringent than
applicable federal, state or local laws, rules or regulations. If
the
state mine
inspector disapproves the administrative
regulations, the
state mine
inspector must provide
written reasons for the disapproval. The
state mine
inspector
shall not make any modification to the administrative regulations as adopted by
the board of supervisors unless the modification is approved by a majority of
the members of the board of supervisors.
G. A person or entity is subject to this chapter if
the use or occupation of land or improvements by the person or entity consists
of or includes changing, remanufacturing or treating human sewage or sludge for
distribution or resale.� These activities are not exempt from this chapter
under subsection A, paragraph 2 of this section.
H. A county shall not require as a condition for a
permit or for any approval, or otherwise cause, an owner or possessor of
property to waive the right to continue an existing nonconforming outdoor
advertising use or structure without acquiring the use or structure by purchase
or condemnation and paying just compensation unless the county, at its option,
allows the use or structure to be relocated to a comparable site in the county
with the same or a similar zoning classification, or to another site in the
county acceptable to both the county and the owner of the use or structure, and
the use or structure is relocated to the other site.� The county shall pay for
relocating the outdoor advertising use or structure
,
including the cost of removing and constructing the new use or structure that
is at least the same size and height. This subsection does not apply
to county rezoning of property at the request of the property owner to a more
intensive zoning district.
I. For the purposes of this section:
1. "Aggregate" has the same meaning
prescribed in section 27-441.
2. "Aggregate mining" has the same meaning
prescribed in section 27-441.
3. "Aggregate mining operation" means
property that is owned, operated or managed by the same person for aggregate
mining.
4. "Operators" means persons who are
actively engaged in aggregate mining operations within the zoning district or
proposed zoning district and who have given notice to the state mine inspector
pursuant to section 27-303.
END_STATUTE